Thank you very much for the question.
I want to state that I very much appreciate the commitment to respect our provincial jurisdiction, in the same way that we respect the federal jurisdiction and welcome the federal leadership on a variety of issues.
I want to also state that each province, and I'm here as a provincial minister, is accountable to its constituents. I'm accountable to my constituents and I'm accountable to Nova Scotians. That's where the accountability lies. The cooperative nature and the consultations that we have with the federal government are welcomed. We've enjoyed them in the past, and I know we will enjoy them in the future, but accountability rests within the parameters of our own province. I have to say that I take issue...and I resent the implication that the Nova Scotia government would misspend any dollars that came to Nova Scotia specifically intended for early learning and child care. I want to state that for the record.
The question about collaboration with education is one that I very much appreciate. As an educator I take special interest in the collaboration we have between our early learning child care and education. We have lots of good things to come when it comes to combining those two departments.